PALEO BREAD BAKE-OFF!

It seems like one of the hardest things to give up when reducing grains, gluten and carbs is bread. Commercial gluten-free bread still has lots of refined carbohydrates and just isn't very tasty. Wheat bread is carby, and, well, wheat. I mostly just don't eat much bread now and that's fine, but every once in a while you want to have toast with your egg or make a tuna fish sandwich. I started hearing about 'paleo bread' and grew curious. Paleo eating gets a lot of things right, including being grain free. I wanted to find out more about these grain free breads so I started doing some research. Well, let me tell you there are a TON of Paleo bread recipes out there. I decided to try almond flour based ones, as personally I don't do well with coconut flour (you might, so don't let that scare you off of some of the coconut flour based recipes).

I chose three recipes that looked interesting- two that just seemed EASY, which is important in my busy life, and one that used yeast and looked like it might come pretty close to some real bread mojo. Here are the three recipes and the breakdown!

This bread was the clear winner in my mind. It had a good color, a good texture, and held together well when toasting. There was a bit of a strong yeast flavor and a slight flatness to the taste; I think I would add more salt next time.

Four ingredients, people. So simple! Amazing how simple and how good the results for only 4 ingredients. However, be prepared to break the bank; the main ingredient is almond butter, and it cost me a fortune. Probably could do a Costco almond butter version if you really like this and want to make it a lot! Pretty good all around in terms of texture and flavor; not quite as convincing as bread #1.

Well, I didn't really agree with the cooking caveman; I just didn't really like this one. It seemed weirdly damp to me and not as appealing as his other version. Plus, it has psyllium seed powder which is a little hard to source; I had to order it. It is cheaper than the almond butter version. I probably wouldn't make this one again.

So, there you have it, a very small sampling of some healthy bread alternatives. I think I would probably make the first one if I had a bread craving, and it makes such a hearty loaf it will probably last a while. I still think I will stick to mostly not eating as much bread at all; now that I have switched over to a mostly non-grain way of eating I don't miss it much. But, once in a while, it will be nice to scratch that bread itch! Let me know if you make any of these or any other paleo breads and how they turn out!